** DISCONTINUED **Court claim - Orange / Lowell 06-01-2016

[flammableeye]

Good evening,

I had tried to post this via the template but it states that my message is too short. I have filled in all boxes however. Please find my case below:
Received a claim? Yes
Issue Date: 06-01-2016
Amount approx: £405.39
Claimant: Lowell
Solicitor: Lowell Solicitors
Original Credit: Orange

Particulars of Claim:
1) The Defendant entered into an agreement with Orange under account reference 57348993 ('the agreement').
2) The Defendant failed to maintain the required payments and a default notice was served and not complied with.
3) The Agreement was later assigned to the Claimant on 22/09/2014 and notice given to the Defendant.
4) Despite repeated requests for payment, the sum of £296.66 remains due and outstanding.
And the Claimant claims
a) The said sum of £296.66
b) Interest pursuant to s69 County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% per annum from the date of assignment to the date of issue, accuing at a daily rate of £0.065, but limited to one year, being £23.73
c) Costs



Stat Barred? Not sure. The date of default on a credit check is 01/03/2010

Have sent:Acknowledged the Claim
CPR 31.14 request sent

Other Info:
I have received a reply to the CPR 31.14 request, dated 22nd January 2016 to the following:

"Thank you for your letter dated 11 January 2016.


We note the contents of your letter however we are unable to request documents such as the agreement or the default notice as the above account is a mobile phone account and we are not obliged by the Consumer Credit Act to provide these.


A copy of the Statement has been requested and once we are in receipt of this we will forward the same to you.


Please find enclose the Notice of Assignment.


We can confirm that legal proceedings were issued on 6 January 2016 against you and you now need to respond accordingly, If no response is received a County Court Judgment will be entered against you and you may become liable for future costs."

The CPR 31.14 makes no mention of the CCA so why have they referenced this? It has also taken them 11 days to reply to this, hugely delaying matters. The notice of assignment was not enclosed either. How should I respond?

[flammableeye]

Re: Court claim - Orange / Lowell 06-01-2016

I need to get a reply sent off as soon as possible so I have drafted up the following:

Thank you for your letter dated 22nd January 2016.

As you have pointed out, mobile phone accounts are not regulated by the Consumer Credit Act and therefore, no provisions under said act would entitle you to refuse my request for documents under CPR 31.14. I hereby make a further request for inspection of documents you mention in your statement of case.

1. Agreement (57348993)
2. Default Notice
3. Assignment
Please be aware that the notice of assignment was not enclosed with your letter.
In accordance with CPR 31.15(c) I undertake to be responsible for your reasonable copying costs incurred in complying with this CPR 31.14 request.

You should note that this claim has not yet been allocated to a specific track and the provisions of CPR 27(2) are of no effect. Had your claim not been issued through CCBC the Claimant would have been obliged to attach copies of the documentation upon which it relies to the Particulars of Claim. I, as Defendant, am entitled to see the documents on which the Claimant relies and which you will have to produce at trial. Disclosure at this stage will enable me to fully plead my case and further the Overriding Objective.

You should ensure compliance with your CPR 31 duties and ensure that the documents I have requested are copied to and received by me within 7 days of receiving this letter.

If you require more time in which to comply with this request you must tell me in writing and confirm your agreement to an extension of the time allowed for me to file my defence as allowed under CPR 15.5 so I may notify the court.

I look forward to hearing from you.

How does this sound?

Thanking you in anticipation.

[Amethyst]

Re: Court claim - Orange / Lowell 06-01-2016

That sounds fine

They have a bit of trouble distinguishing between a request for the agreement as evidence of the debt as opposed to a CCA request.... so your response is perfect.

[Amethyst]

Re: Court claim - Orange / Lowell 06-01-2016

Stat barring - probably not - The date of default on a credit check is 01/03/2010 - however it depends how long before you were defaulted you actually breached your contract, and how long before marking your credit file they actually defaulted your account. But it is likely to be quite tight.

[flammableeye]

Re: Court claim - Orange / Lowell 06-01-2016

Thank you for your response, Amethyst. I shall be sending this letter to them today.

Regarding the stat barring, I have absolutely no paper work from this time so wouldn't know when those events occurred unfortunately.

[Amethyst]

Re: Court claim - Orange / Lowell 06-01-2016

Do Orange still exist in any form? Might be worth a call to see if they have anything on record ref your defaulting on payments.

[flammableeye]

Re: Court claim - Orange / Lowell 06-01-2016

The calls cost a fortune to them now and I had no luck getting through.

I have since received another reply to my letter dated 11th January again stating that they are not obliged to comply. I have drafted the defence as follows:

1. The Claimants claim is for a debt is alleged to be owed to Orange on A/C No. 57348993.2. The Defendant does not recognise the debt from the details given and is unable to ascertain whether there is any amount owing to the original creditor.
3. Despite requests for information from the Defendant (made under CPR 31.14) on 11/01/2016 and 20/01/2016 and 26/01/2016, the Claimant has not provided any further details as to how the sums claimed have accrued or copies of any agreement/contract between Orange and the Defendant.
4. No date of inception of the account has been given.
5. No default notice has been received by the Defendant.
6. The claimant states that the account was assigned from Orange to Lowell Portfolio I on 22/09/2014. The Defendant has not received any notification of this assignment.
7. Under Civil Procedure Rule 16.5 (4) Where the claim includes a money claim, a defendant shall be taken to require that any allegation relating to the amount of money claimed be proved unless he expressly admits the allegation. Therefore It is expected that the Claimant be required to prove the allegation that the money is owed as claimed.
8. Should the Claimants adequately evidence the debt the Defendant reserves the right to amend his defence.

9. It is denied the Claimant is entitled to the relief as claimed or at all.

I hope this covers it all and properly?

Thank you.

[flammableeye]

Re: Court claim - Orange / Lowell 06-01-2016

Good morning Amethyst,

I have submitted my defence on 3rd February. I'm not really sure what happens next, can you advise?

Thank you.

[Amethyst]

Re: Court claim - Orange / Lowell 06-01-2016

Your defence sounds fine

No what happens is the claimant has 28 days to get back to the court to say if they wish to proceed. If they don't the case gets put on hold. If they do you will receive an allocation / directions questionnaire offering mediation and asking where the case should be transferred to for hearing ( your local court). Then hopefully the judge will make an order for the claimant to produce documents.

[flammableeye]

Re: Court claim - Orange / Lowell 06-01-2016

Thank you Amethyst, much appreciated I'll wait an see.

[flammableeye]

Re: Court claim - Orange / Lowell 06-01-2016

Hi Amethyst, today I have unfortunately received a notice of proposed allocation to the small claims track. How should I fill this out? I really don't like the idea of having to go to court.

[flammableeye]

Re: Court claim - Orange / Lowell 06-01-2016

Bump

[nemesis45]

Re: Court claim - Orange / Lowell 06-01-2016

Hi Amethyst, today I have unfortunately received a notice of proposed allocation to the small claims track. How should I fill this out? I really don't like the idea of having to go to court.

Hi, Follow the directions on the form (s).

Yes to Allocation to SCT.
No to Dispute Jurisdiction.
Yes to mediation.

Your Local County Court hearing centre if you know it otherwise leave blank.

[flammableeye]

Re: Court claim - Orange / Lowell 06-01-2016

Thanks Nemesis45. I sent this off and have now had the following email:

The above parties have both filed a Directions Questionnaire (N180) and have both stated that they would be willing to try and resolve this matter via mediation.


Appointment Time & Date

A 1 hour telephone mediation session of up to one hour is available to you between 9.30 and 13:30 on the following dates:
Tuesday 19^th April
Tuesday 26^th April


Mediation Requirements

Please read the following 4 statements:

	Yes	No
1. I can confirm that I am willing to compromise on this matter
2. I can confirm that there has been no police involvement in this matter at any time
3. I can confirm that I have enough information about the claim to allow me to enter into negotiations and that I do not require any further evidence from the other party before I can mediate
4. I am available to mediate on one of the following dates (You must tick at least 1 of the following, you may tick more than 1 if applicable)
I am available between 9:30 & 13:30 on the 19th April stated above
I am available between 9:30 & 13:30 on the 26th April stated above

Mediation is only available to you if you can answer YES to all 4 statements above. If you cannot answer YES to each of the 4 statements, mediation is not suitable for your case.

I can not answer yes to question 3 as they have not provided any documentation at all. Do I reply with this statement?

Thank you

[nemesis45]

Re: Court claim - Orange / Lowell 06-01-2016

Thanks Nemesis45. I sent this off and have now had the following email:



I can not answer yes to question 3 as they have not provided any documentation at all. Do I reply with this statement?

Thank you

Answer 3 as you say is no, you can add that the claimant and their solicitors have failed to respond to requests for inspection of documents.
nem